I wish everybody a happy, healthy and prosperous 2021!

 

Hello my friends,

A year ago I wished you the same for 2020 of which only hours separate us from the new year. That wish did not come quite true. I think I can say that none of us ever has experienced a similar year in his or her life. And let us all hope that we never will again! I will not drag up all the events that has coloured and marred this year. The medea are full of that already. 

The picture above shows how I would like to spend this day. Sitting next to a comfortable fire. listening to some music while I read a good book. At this moment that is "Orley Farm" written by Anthony Trollope. A right beast of a Victorian novel. I quite like his work. ;-) Eating an occasional "Oliebol" and wait for the champagne to be uncorked at midnight. And instead of reminiscing about the year that has passed, as I often do at years end, I like to direct my attention to the new year this time. What will 2020 have in store for us?

That being said, I also hope that you all enjoyed a lovely Christmas this year. After all, let us not forget that nothing is all bad, not even 2020. Good things happened as well. Let not all those good things be overshadowed by the pandemic and other sad things. Cherrish the good and fun things that happened as well!

One such small (and perhaps insignificant in the light of 2020) things that made me smile was the christmas present I found under the christmas tree. Well actualy I did not see it at first. None of the lovely wrapped packages bore my name on them. Only when saw that the little baby christ in our nativity carried a miniature envelope with my name on it, I knew that I was not forgotten. ;-)

When we opened the presents I saw that my partner had given me a 1:12 gift voucher to help me save up for a beautiful miniature I wish to buy next year. How sweet is that? It is in fact the first miniature he has made in 1:12 (who knows what may follow. :-O) 

Unfortunately my partner is 100% Dutch. Why? Because he divided the amount on the voucher through 12 as well. and so of the amount he has give me as a present he only has to pay out € 4,17 when I will buy the miniature! We both had a good laugh about that, and I hope that you have too.

I hope that all those sad and terrible things that we all experienced in this old year can soon be healed and/or forgotten in the new year! And may you all be(come) and stay happy, healthy and prosperous! 

Huibrecht

Saint Ambrose's beehive

Hello my friends, you were very kind in your responses on my post on the miniature beehive I have made. I had thoroughly enjoyed making it and wanted to make more. And although we associate bees with spring and summer, making beehives was in the olden times typically a job for winter when the fields lay fallow. So making them now is actualy the right season for it. :-)

I used the same hemp twine and cotton thread to make a larger beehive. You can see it in the above picture on the left. After I  finished the second beehive I wanted to make something else. In the tutorial I had used there was also a tutorial for a so called Saint Ambrose beehive. It was used  by catholic beekeepers and/or monasteries as a devotional item in parts of Western Europe. This because Saint Ambrose is the patron saint of the beekeepers.

There is a legend that as an infant, a swarm of bees settled on his face while he lay in his cradle, leaving behind a drop of honey. His father considered this a sign of his future eloquence and honeyed tongue. For this reason, bees and beehives often appear in the saint's symbology. Saint Ambrose thus became the patron saint of bees, beekeepers and even candle makers! In his iconography, he is often depicted with bees or a beehive – symbols that also indicate wisdom.

He would lend his name to the Latin term for honey ‘ambrosia’ also used in Greek and Roman mythology to describe the food of the gods. St Ambrose is still referenced today by modern beekeepers, using the term ambrosia to describe the mixture of nectar and pollen prepared by worker bees to feed bee larvae. His holyday is december 8th of every year. So this post comes a week after his feast. Pity I did not think of that sooner or I would have posted this on the december 8th. ;-)

But back to the miniatures. I decided to use the first hive I made as the body for the Ambrose hive. I added a few rings to add height. In the picture above you can see that the frst hive was quite low next to the second one. It is funny that, with my speed with stitching, It took me several (full) days to make all the elements that you see in the pictures above and below. 

Next I had to make a smaller hive shape for the head. When that was done I weaved a strand of hemptine through one side for the nose. Furthermore I used the same blanket stitch (used on the hives) to make his cape, a bishops miter, two arms (with only three fingers), and 2 ears. Furthermore I braided three strands of hemptwine together just as I did with three strands of the cotton thread. The first of the two braids is used to decorate the bottom of the hive that will be St Ambrose his body, the second one will be used to hold together his cape. Lastly I assembled a bishops staff out of a round bead and two tooth picks, bound together with a cotton thread. 

After all the parts of Saint Ambrose were done I brewed a strong cup of tea and let them bathe in it for a few hours. I had a little doubt about the body. That hive had already had a tea bath before so would it not darken too much now it lay in tea for a second time? The result was that all the pieces came out in roughly the same colour. So that went well. Because I used a different tea than the first time it has a little reddish hue while the large hive is a bit more yellow. 

Then all that was left to do was to assemble all the pieces. I have used tacky glue for this last part. If I want to alter things in the future that may be easier to disassemble Ambrose than when using a thread and neadle. Because which threads do I have to cut then? The cape is not attached to the body with glue. That is just folded over his shoulders and tied together with the braided cotton between the two round beads on the ends. 

Lastly I used two headpins (vut short with yers) with the smallest head I could find in my stash of things. I could swear that the glass heads were of the same colour, but on the first and last photo in this post, you can see that Ambrose's right eye is in reality black while his left eye is blue. I think there is a song in that if the black eye was brown? ;-)

And not without a little pride I present you the newest addition to my family. We call him Ambrose. Does he not look lovely in his attire? He wants to be a bishop when he grows up. :-) 

Well that is it for now. I hope that you have enjoyed reading this post. Until next time.

Huibrecht 

A (terracotta) bust is a must

Hello my friends, welcome back. The last few years I have bought several kits and miniatures that only need to be finished. Looking at all those items to make or to finish there should be something that could be done while "in between miniatures". Then I saw the two busts I bought from Alison Davies last year.

A Roman emperor and a lady. Quite popular models by Alison Davies, cast in white resin. Often you see these finished as aged sandstone or marble. Beautiful, but I wanted something different, but what? Busts come in all kinds of materials besidse stone or marble. Just think of wood, (blackened) bronze, lead, pewter, (glazed) terracotta, painted porcelain, et cetera. You name it!

So  I wanted to try something new. A painted terracotta finish. Terracotta was used by artists for studies before the attempted cutting the bust in marble. It was also used for making copies.  For those who can work with clay it is a wonderfull material that can be teased into almost any shape or form.

There are probably very good articles and tutorials on creating a faux terracotta finish. But I could not find one. So I had to think up a method myself. Terracotta is not rjustone colour. but a range of different colour (tones and hues) Depending on the type of clay used the natural colour of the real material goes from soft grey to pink and from sandy yellows to a beige with a burgundy hue. That natural variety gives quite a lot of freedom. After I found pictures of good examples I tried to recreate their colour.

First I aplied an undiluted layer of acrylic paint called terra. As you can see for yourself, this looks way to orange! As if it came from a factory where they make brand new terracotta sewer pipes. yikes! I had expected this because this is meant as the basecoat to shine through the next layers. And so, after it had dried, I applied a second layer of pinkish beige. Something close to a light skin tone. 

The result looked quite promising colour wise. much better than the basecoat Unfortunately this colour did not come in matte finish. As you can see on the picture above it is way to shiny! It almost looks like it is glazed! Not good! I apllied a matte varnish but that dit not tone down the sheen in any way. So varnish was not going to help me with this.  

So what now? In a local store I found (vallejo) pigment powders used on miniature (train) diorama's and such. typically for ageing and such. This could help. I aplied a thin layer of medium and a dusting of the powder. When the medium dried I rubbed the bust with a soft cloth. I ended up with this as a result. Quite dark but it has that subdued sheen that (older) terracotta often has. 

The darkness in the last picture was replaced with a lighter result after it had fully dried (took quite some time) The end result can be seen on the picture above. I am very happy with the result. 

I also painted 2 1:24 vases. I followed the same steps but omitted the first step of painting them in terra like the bust. So the skintone paint was added directly on the resin vases. Because of poor light (it is a rainy day) it is a bit hard to see compared now, but their terracotta colour is actualy a bit paler and more yellow than the bust. Just like with gilding, the base colour affects the final outcome of the colour. 

I have enjoyed this little trial and error. The result is even better as I had hoped. I had expected to need to use more layers of paint to achieve this effect. And who knows some of you may benefit from it someday. :-)

Huibrecht